Employee profile: Sam Lin

Age: 31 Residence: Wausau Position: Telehealth technology coordinator What you should know: Sam Lin is the man who controls all the switches, runs the miles of computer cables and wiring and sets up the cameras and computers for the Aspirus Network telehealth program. Lin, 31, of Wausau joined Aspirus in August 2011 as the telehealth technology coordinator as the health care system expanded its telehealth or telemedicine program. Lin manages the video conferencing network for Aspirus and makes sure doctors and nurses can see their patients on the computer screen from clinics as far as a couple hundreds of miles away. The Aspirus telehealth program works in five specialties at the moment, but Lin and his co-workers always are looking for other specialties that can take advantage of the technology. He said he enjoys the challenge of finding how to make video conferencing a viable option for all the services Aspirus provides. In some cases, that means setting up a conference room with telecommunication capabilities, devising a moveable cart with a computer system for nurses or simply hooking up the technology to a physician’s laptop. “It’s almost like a custom-fit solution, but maintaining our level of standards,” Lin said. The technology to connect providers with patients is complex, but Lin said every step is taken to make sure that connections are secure so that a patient’s confidential information cannot be accessed by people without authorization. “You want something that is secure, safe and private,” Lin said. “You don’t want that data in the wrong hands.”

Registered nurse Beth Knetter adjusts her webcam at Aspirus Regional Cancer Center in Wausau. Aspirus has made increasing use of technology to connect specialists with patients who live far from clinics. / T'xer Zhon Kha/Gannett Central Wisconsin Media

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WAUSAU — Aspirus cancer research nurse Beth Knetter can get a lot done in a face-to-face interview with her cancer patients at Langlade Hospital in Antigo.

Knetter answers her cancer patients’ questions, provides treatment options and counsels them on how to proceed with treatment.

And she does it all without ever actually meeting the patient. Instead, she relies upon a high-definition, flat-screen TV and webcam connection to save her the time of traveling 40 miles to visit Langlade.

Aspirus has been using what it calls “telehealth” since 2008. Telehealth, also known as telemedicine, links doctors to patients at different locations using video cameras and television or computer screens.

Knetter had a dilemma this summer when one of her nurses who visited cancer patients across northern Wisconsin left the job. She was faced with the prospect of driving back and forth across Marathon and Langlade counties to meet patients or asking her rural patients to make the trek to Wausau.

That’s when she decided to see whether telemedicine could work for her cancer patients.

Using telecommunications to work with the cancer patients now saves physicians and patients the travel time and gas money, while still providing the personal service the patients need.

Cancer patients are screened to determined whether they qualify for Aspirus’ cancer drug trial program. Cancer physicians are testing as many as 30 different drugs to treat breast, lung, prostate and colon cancer, Knetter said. The patients are told during consultations about the treatment process — treatments can vary from intravenous lines to pills — and the possible side effects from the drugs.

“We are busy treating patients, but they are still getting standardized care,” Knetter said.

Appearing on camera can be entertaining, and bring a moment of levity for the patients, their families, physicians and nurses while discussing the seriousness of cancer. Knetter said the process of getting a patient’s body part close enough to a camera for examination can be humorous, and patients have gotten a laugh when Knetter’s head was cut off from the view of the patients by a bad camera angle.

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“It lightens up the meetings,” Knetter said.

Aspirus first began using telemedicine in 2008 when a cardiologist checked a patient from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who would have had to drive more than two hours to get to Wausau. Since then, Aspirus has used telemedicine for specialists, such as psychologists, pulmonary therapists, hand therapists, as well as occupational and physical therapy.

Grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rural development program totaling more than $1 million have provided the health care system with funds to purchase the infrastructure to connect its hospitals. Sophisticated audio and video equipment and specialized tools give physicians and nurses high-quality sound and pictures of their patients.

With six Aspirus hospitals and seven clinics with telemedicine capabilities, hundreds of patients every year receive long-distance consultations.

“We’re not trying to replace visits; we’re just trying to make us accessible in rural communities,” said Janelle Selenske, the telehealth program coordinator for Aspirus.